Working on a interesting job. The house was built in 1935 and was considered a prefab home. The steel panels were fabbed in Chicago by General Homes and shipped to Iowa. The price was said to be between $5000 to $6000. It seems to predate Lustron homes and the panels are not ceramic coated. The 4′ x 8 ‘ panels are bolted together with a 2 x 6 that has been rabbeted between them. It has bar joists with 2 x 4’s on edge for the roof and 2 x 2’s strapped for the ceiling. The are fastened to the bar joists with metal clips.
Barry E-Remodeler
Edited 1/14/2007 9:37 am by BarryE
Replies
We will be adding a grand room shaped kinda like a grand piano and a master suite and office above
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Edited 1/14/2007 9:51 am by BarryE
The lower front will be a glass curtain wall with a glass handrail above
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Barry E-Remodeler
Edited 1/14/2007 9:54 am by BarryE
Interesting project, keep the pics coming. Where is the house located?
ThanksDes Moines, Iowa
Barry E-Remodeler
Thanks
Des Moines, Iowa
Ah, I guessed as much. I grew up in DSM, and that house actually looks familiar to me. Is it south of Grand Avenue by chance, near the river?
If you feel like, it, PM the address to me - I'd love to drive by next time I'm in town to see my folks.
Jason
That style reminds me of a lot of the local lake clubs' buildings hereabouts. "Boat and Anchor club" and such. Flat roofs, balconies, windows... the whole sheebang.
jt8
"Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one getting burned."-- Buddha
Are you somewhere around the great lakes?
Barry E-Remodeler
Here's the front of the house. The garage with the guest quarters above was added in the 70's. It was designed by the same architect firm
The double windows to the right of the main entry was the original garage:
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Here's the back of the 70's addition with the stairs going up to the guest area:
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Barry E-Remodeler
Edited 1/17/2007 8:36 pm by BarryE
heres some other views:
Inside of crawl space:
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main floor trusses from above:
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Perimeter LVL's and beam from above
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Barry E-Remodeler
Edited 1/17/2007 8:50 pm by BarryE
Great house! And with appreciative new owners. No wonder you're having a good time. What sort of heating bills are involved? I know, designed for cheap heat. Worked on several similar in Denver, often with radiant heat. Unbelievably expensive creature comfort.
Thanks for the bar joist details. Amazing that they once built them that way. Obviously worked, just expensive for what they got, compared to today's. PAHS Designer/Builder- Bury it!
From what the owner has been telling me the power bills are pretty high right now. It is forced air with 3 furnaces, though 1 is in the garage. The waals were kraftfaced in the metal pans. when we pulled the insulation out you could see that there was much condesation. We will be using a mix of icynene and fiberglass in the addition.The owners were very involved with choosing the new heat source. We had calcs done and looked at rebates and paybacks for 3 systems. Geothermal, hybrid heat pump and standard forced air. After considering all the options we will be installing a hybrid heat pump system and set up zones.
Barry E-Remodeler
From what the owner has been telling me the power bills are pretty high right now.
Yeah, could see that from a block away. Great house- for somebody other than me to live in. But I love looking at it.
What's a hybrid heat pump? Air and ground source? That doesn't sound likely. Obviously I don't know much, no need.PAHS Designer/Builder- Bury it!
What's a hybrid heat pump?
Is that one of those air hp's that has an electric resistance backup? Always thought that didn't make sense...try to sell something as efficient and then add the benchmark for inefficiency on to it.
jt8
"Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one getting burned."-- Buddha
<electric resistance backup? . . . the benchmark for inefficiency >
Umm - resistance heat is essentially 100% efficient - that is, there are no conversion losses - all the energy turns to heat. It's just an expensive way to buy BTUs.
Forrest
Umm - resistance heat is essentially 100% efficient - that is, there are no conversion losses - all the energy turns to heat. It's just an expensive way to buy BTUs.
<sniff> <sniff> I smell an engineer! They like to point out the theoretical efficienct, but to my non-engineer thinking, efficiency translates to BTU per $. Which makes electric resistance one step above heating the house by burning dollar bills in a hibachi in the LR.
;)jt8
"Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one getting burned."-- Buddha
This Job was finished last summer and was in the Tour of Remodeled Homes in October.
I thought I might show some updates for anyone interested.
Here are some progress pics from the outside:View Image
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Barry E-Remodeler
More:
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Barry E-Remodeler
2 more of the exterior:
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Barry E-Remodeler
Here are 2 from the interior of the ground floor Grand room:
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Barry E-Remodeler
Here's the existing master bath which became a part of the new bath:
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Barry E-Remodeler
And here's the after for the master bath, it's open style with no shower doors or curb:
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looking back the other way, the toilet is a european style wall hung with the tank in the wall. The frame was almost to pretty to wall in:
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Barry E-Remodeler
Amazing job, bathroom looks phenomenal. How long did the entire project take and cost? What type of window is in the great room?
Thanks Billy,It took a little over 7 months from the time we started demo.The curtain walls in the grand room windows are commercial store front glass and have automated lutron blinds that are in the pocket at the top
Barry E-Remodeler
Nice work, Barry.It is refreshing to see work done in something other than the "traditional" style.
thanks GeneI enjoy getting to work on jobs that are outside the "norm"
Barry E-Remodeler
A unique home for that date. From what i remember, the International style never really took off in the U.S.. Was kind of the U.S. version of the German Bauhaus. Unfortunately, that movement fell out of favor with the rise of German fascism, and U.S. styles turned more towards FLW, Art Deco and assorted Revivalisms. Interesting how politics and history can affect design issues.
ditto the work, excellent craft :)
Thanks Strum,It did seem to be a shorter lived style, concentrated in certain regions for the most part it seems. I would have called this house modern having not heard of International before this house. I now know the owners take exception to the label of Modern. :)
Barry E-Remodeler
Barry
Looks pretty cool!
Like Gene, its refreshing to see something other then traditional, although its still my fav I do enjoy anything well done and your pictures certainly show that.
Doug
thanks Doug,I'm a wood guy so I like a little more trim, but I enjoyed the challenges this job had. it was also fun to see the reactions of people who came through during the "tour of remodeled homes".
Barry E-Remodeler
You tied the addition in really well. It looks like it was part of the original house. What is the story on the balcony rail? Is it glass, or is it yet to be finished in that last ext pic?
jt8
"It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends on his not understanding it." --Upton Sinclair
John,
It's glass, you can see it better in this view from the master bedroom:
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As far as the design, the credit goes to the architects, they were great to work with.
I was so involved in this project, I really didn't notice the total impact of this addition until I saw an after photo done for some promotional material for the remodeling tour.
It might not be true International style but it does fit in nice
Barry E-Remodeler
Probably has some white stuff on the ground right now.
jt8
"It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends on his not understanding it." --Upton Sinclair
yep, sounds like more on the way this weekend
Barry E-Remodeler
Nice job. It has a timeless quality to it. Like you aren't sure where to classify it. I like that.
thanks pop,I never thought of it that way, but I like that.
Barry E-Remodeler
Is that one of those air hp's that has an electric resistance backup?
That describes how all the air source heat pumps work, far as I know. They aren't very good at squeezing heat out of sub-freezing air. Common here.PAHS Designer/Builder- Bury it!
first one we've used, it supposed to be gas and electric
here they are:http://www.residential.carrier.com/products/packaged/hybrid/index.shtml
Barry E-Remodeler
Got it. Solves two of the common air source heat pump complaints: high operating cost during cold weather and feeling cold when the air coming out of the ducts is only from elec. resistance heat.
Not unusual here, but with separate heating and ac units. Which usually resulted from the HO becoming dissatisfied with the heating performance of their air source heat pump. Then added a gas heater (if gas was available).
Sounds like a solution, so long as gas prices stay down.PAHS Designer/Builder- Bury it!
Central IL.
jt8
"Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one getting burned."-- Buddha
Nice! Always wanted an International Style house. Love the clean, spare look.
Forrest - cluttered in my real life
The owners moved here from NYC via Connecticut. They were looking at the house next door and fell in love with this one. They said the same thing.I had never seen drywalled houses in Iowa prior to the 1960's but this has the original walls dating from 1935 and there is no plaster. The base and casing are flat stock with a slight bullnose. They are rabbeted to accept the drywall board. Same with the ceiling /wall intersrction.All the original blueprints are here along with the specs. Emphasis on BLUEprints <G>It's gonna be a fun job, I love challenges.
Edited 1/14/2007 11:52 am by BarryE
NOW we have a good photo shoot, Barry. Keep the pics coming.
Glad to see some steel and glass for a change. All the wood stuff has had me thinking I am in the black forest.
<black forest.>
It's just the winter light - I get depressed . . .
Forrest - representing that remark
Gene,It's not your typical midwest house.The remodel is scheduled to be done in April. For anyone interested here is an article I found on stran steel houses and the architect that founded General Houses:http://www.structuremag.org/archives/2006/Nov-2006/C-BB-History-AllenLowndes-Nov06.pdf
Edited 1/14/2007 1:07 pm by BarryE
Barry,
I wonder if A L was a product of F L Wright. I have studied Wright for years and he always incorporated wood and steel.
Looking forward to your project/progress.
Chuck S.live, work, build, ...better with wood
not sure about AL. But i have found no connection between Howard Fisher & Wright except that they both did work in chicago
Barry E-Remodeler
Very interesting, thanks. More pics to come I hope. Could you post one of the metal clips? I'm a bar joist fan.
One similar house near here. New owners (archys) tired of the leaky roof and added a pyramid on top. Then they installed some fabric panels outside the walls. Look like the nylon covers you'd see on large buildings to keep debris from killing pedestrians, but they're permanent. Wrecked the house, far as I'm concerned. A friend here tells me he's never understood why I liked what appeared to him a sewer plant.
PAHS Designer/Builder- Bury it!
VaTom,I don't have any pictures of the clips now, but I'll take some this week.I'm taking the pictures so that we can give the homeowner a CD at the end. Didn't know if there would be any interest but I thought it was a pretty cool project.
Barry E-Remodeler
Didn't know if there would be any interest but I thought it was a pretty cool project.
Very. Always interesting to see what "future houses" used to look like. But for some of us, much more.
Much as I love wood- for furniture- it strikes me as questionable at best for house construction. Bug and fungi food. Concrete and steel was my choice, worked very well.
Looking forward to more pics.PAHS Designer/Builder- Bury it!
here's the clips i was talking of. They are on the top & bottom:
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And here's a view from the future master suite into the backyard:
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Barry E-Remodeler
Edited 1/15/2007 8:35 pm by BarryE
Barry,
Interesting clips.
Looks like a great project. Looking forward to your progress.
Chuck S.live, work, build, ...better with wood
What he said. If you have the thought, "am I posting too many pictures?", the answer is NO.
Forrest
Pretty straightforward, thanks. Greatly appreciate the pair of pics. New to me. Always good to see options. Powder actuated is the only method I've used. Any idea if/where they're still available?
Those bar joists don't look much like what I've bought. Not a pair of angle iron for top and bottom chords?
Nice view. Looks like you got the storm. I was out today in a tee shirt (mid- 60º) uprooting trees with my rubber-tire Cat. Amazing how fast they grow (30') when you pause in construction (zoning issues). Mostly, in what will be the garage.
I love that tractor.
Please keep us updated. PAHS Designer/Builder- Bury it!
Thanks everyone. I'll try to keep it updated.VaTom,I haven't been able to find the clips yet, looks like they would be easy to make. we usually use the ramset also.I'm trying to remember on the joists and drawing a blank on specifics. should pay more attention. We've even been cutting them off and welding them into the new beam I'll have to look closer at them <g>We got about 4" of snow, first of the season. suppose to hit -4 tonight then we are going into a warmup 20's for the high. We were dueI can sympathize on the zoning issues, 30' ..that's some fast growing trees. Do they have shallow roots?
Barry E-Remodeler
The roof looks kindof flat. Are there leaking issues? If so how will you address that without wrecking the lines of the house? Looks very different from anything around me (tho there are a couple of old ocatagon houses here).Ice & snow? No problem, painting is low tech.
plantlust,It is a flat roof. The original roof was a pitch and tar paper roof. It now has a rubber roof which we will be replacing with a Sarnafil PVC roof. It also has roof drains. No leaking issues currently.You're right, flat roofs as a rule, are not popular in the midwest. With the advance of modern roofing materials I don't think it's as big an issue as it use to be.
Barry E-Remodeler
I'm trying to remember on the joists and drawing a blank on specifics. should pay more attention. We've even been cutting them off and welding them into the new beam I'll have to look closer at them <g>
Please. Always interesting. I've bought a number of bar joists at various auctions. Style of construction is widely varied and quite different from the ones built for me (K series), but I've never seen any like yours.
I can sympathize on the zoning issues, 30' ..that's some fast growing trees. Do they have shallow roots?
Very briefly, the county planners believe nobody should be allowed to build where we live (and have 4 more recognized building sites under current regulations). They're trying to rescind, which would eliminate the majority of our net worth. Got my attention. Not just our mountain, it's a 30k acre land grab. A new definition of "taking" appeared on the horizon.
Yup, fast-growing trees. Tulip poplar and paulownia. Roots are moderate, but enough foundation that (strong) wind rarely blows any over. Once popped out of the ground, most still require hydraulics to move them. Killed 20 or so yesterday, upstarts in this typically 80' tall forest. I started construction (poured 60 yds of concrete) a few yrs ago when I didn't have the money to build, but needed an on-going building permit to protect that site. Going to confuse the hell out of the inspector, trying to figure out which codes apply. <VBG> I'm slow.
I digress. Stay warm in that weather.
PAHS Designer/Builder- Bury it!
here's the joists:
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Barry E-Remodeler
Edited 1/17/2007 8:28 pm by BarryE
Finished the steel work and started the upstairs framing. no easy walls:
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Underside of floor trusses. had to get creative with some of the hangers:
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Barry E-Remodeler
Edited 1/20/2007 10:30 pm by BarryE
Looks good. Work seems to take longer when dealing with inclement weather.
Chuck Slive, work, build, ...better with wood
Intriguing addition. Strange thing about Iowa, Des Moines in particular. They've been getting some media attention for interesting projects lately. An architectural firm there even got the national 'firm of the year' award a couple years ago.
Used to live in Cedar Rapids. Still have relatives in Des Moines and Waterloo. Any renderings of the addition/other views of the existing house?
draftguyIt does seem like we may have more than our share of good firms here<g>The firm of the year was probably Herbert Lewis Kruse & Blunck. i know they win quite a few regional awards. they teamed up with David Chipperfield out of England to design our downtown library. it drew a lot of attention because of the grass roof.I'll see what i have for other views. Not sure about the protocol on the rendering, i'll ask the architect.
Barry E-Remodeler
Barry: I know this thread is not new but just wasting time here on a Sunday morning on FHB and came across it.
VERY nice job. It's refreshing to see well thought out additions regardless of the style.
Certainly a feather inyour cap and one for your company portfolio. Congrats on the project.
Runnerguy
Thanks runner,It was a great collaboration with the architects and homeowners. Made it fun to go to work.
Barry E-Remodeler